Piper Jones (proper) and Derek Lanter of Waialua Espresso. All photos courtesy of Piper Jones.

Anybody recognizing Piper Jones on the latest Worldwide Girls’s Espresso Alliance conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, doubtless discovered her genuinely listening, deeply engaged in a one-on-one dialog, nearly in awe of the particular person in entrance of her. 

The trait has benefitted Jones via a long time within the espresso business, from a novice to an knowledgeable and mentor as head of the coffee-focused beverage consultancy TX Bev Dev.

“I understand how laborious the business is, and after I meet individuals, I’m simply gobsmacked by what they’ve achieved,” Jones lately informed DCN. “I’m like, ‘I do know what you’ve executed. I see your path. I perceive the battle and challenges and have been via each one among them myself.’ I do know it with out them even saying the phrases.” 

Jones on the Kohana Espresso lab in Austin, Texas.

Earlier than working in espresso on the skilled stage — together with main Austin, Texas-based Kohana Espresso as govt vice chairman —  Jones was the director of operations at an promoting company. It was there that colleague Victoria Lynden opened a restaurant, put in a espresso roaster on-site and began sourcing Hawaii-grown coffees whereas tapping into Jones’ operations expertise. 

“Getting behind the roaster was a profound expertise for me. It was so thrilling that I used to be nearly giddy,” Jones mentioned. “It was one of many coolest issues I had ever seen; and with that, I did a deep dive into espresso. I didn’t come up for air for years.”

That enterprise grew to become Kohana Espresso, and shortly after it started to provide the Central Market grocery chain whereas turning into the primary native roaster at Austin’s flagship Entire Meals location. In between demo-ing coffees at these shops, Jones began making massive batches of chilly brew, which the model quickly bottled and bought to extra grocery shops. 

“There was no person doing it then,” Jones mentioned. “We began bottling it within the roasting warehouse the place we have been making it in large buckets… We acquired into the Entire Meals Southwest area. We couldn’t make it quick sufficient. We have been working so laborious with like two or three of us. It was simply loopy.”

Quickly, the corporate was contacted by a bottling firm in California. 

“I used to be like no, no, no,” Jones mentioned of that preliminary contact. “I used to be chilly brewing these stunning Kenyans and Indonesian coffees. They have been actually high-end, and I used to be means snooty about it.”

Ultimately, Jones did go to the manufacturing manufacturing facility and its 1,000-gallon tank, and all her considerations about high quality management have been adequately addressed. The partnership allowed Kohana to scale manufacturing whereas getting into extra Entire Meals areas and finally offering a bottled chilly brew product for nationwide retailer Dealer Joe’s. 

Regardless of such successes, Jones mentioned, “We by no means weren’t in survival mode.”

Whereas in search of extra private time and recognizing a necessity for out of doors assist to scale, Kohana Espresso’s management bought the corporate to a Colorado-based firm in 2021. The corporate was subsequently acquired by B2B espresso large Westrock Espresso. 

Jones with a gaggle in Honduras.

“We have been within the trenches collectively,” mentioned Jones of the Kohana group. “I’d do something on the planet for these individuals.”

In the present day, Jones is sharing her experiences with scaling, promoting to field shops, product improvement and extra via her consultancy, serving to to usher in a brand new technology of enterprise leaders in espresso. 

Right here’s extra from DCN’s latest dialog with Jones…

What about espresso excites you most?

After I see what different girls are doing, I’m blown away by it. I’m really excited by the stuff that girls are doing. 

What about espresso troubles you most?

There are such a lot of issues I fear about. I fear about local weather change, the subsequent technology and what they’re dealing with, and what the present technology is already dealing with. I see challenges in each path I look. When individuals discuss entering into the espresso business, I’m similar to, ‘Okay, you gotta actually wish to do that since you’re not going to make cash. You’re going to work your ass off. You’re most likely going to lose your financial savings, nevertheless it is going to be one thing that you simply love. 

What would you be doing if not for espresso?

I’d most likely be doing one thing in meals and beverage product improvement. I really like analysis. I really like improvement. I really like being an operational particular person and fixing issues. That’s the nerdy facet of me, however I actually like attempting to determine learn how to do one thing that we don’t but have the data or the know-how to do.

Is there somebody within the espresso business who evokes you? Let DCN’s editors know right here. 

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